How do you make the highest public viewing area west of the Mississippi better? By expanding the view.

Sky View Observatory, on the 73rd floor of Seattle's Columbia Center, announced Tuesday that it plans to extend the view from 270 degrees to a full 360 on July 1.

"The panoramic view includes Mount Baker, Mount Rainier, the Cascade Mountains, Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains, the city of Seattle and, of course, the Space Needle," according to a news release. "The interior has been fully redesigned and features new displays at each vantage point telling the story of the city and the region."

The Sky View Observatory "is an affordable way to get a higher and better view of our culturally rich city and ecologically diverse region," Columbia Center General Manager Lynda Collie said in the release.

Columbia Center, built in 1985, is the city's tallest building at 937 feet high, with 76 floors. It was formerly known as the Bank of America Tower and Columbia-Seafirst Center.

The Columbia Center was originally designed to be 1,005 feet tall, but the Federal Aviation Administration had it shortened to keep it clear of a flight path to Sea-Tac Airport, according to Emporis. The cut was made by lowering floor-to-floor height by six inches.

The tallest building west of the Mississippi is the 1,018-foot US Bank Tower, in Los Angeles, although the Columbia Center has three more floors. The US Bank Tower doesn't have a public viewing area.

The observatory is open every day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is free for children under 5, $9 for seniors and children ages 5 to 17, and $12.50 for adults.